Beginning August 1, 2023, Meta began blocking news content and links from being viewed by people in Canada on Facebook and Instagram. No court issued a publication ban. No minister ordered a takedown. Parliament passed a law that can require qualifying digital news intermediaries to bargain with eligible news businesses over compensation for making news…
A municipal bylaw in Canada becomes law when the local council follows the process required by provincial legislation and the municipality’s own procedure rules. In many provinces, that involves three readings, but Canada has no single municipal bylaw procedure. The required steps vary significantly by province and by the type of bylaw involved. Additional notice,…
In 2025, Canadian specialist physicians reported a median wait of 28.6 weeks from a family-doctor referral to treatment. That is the Fraser Institute’s physician survey figure, published in December 2025. It was down from 30.0 weeks in 2024. It was still the second-longest result in that survey’s history, and far above the 9.3 weeks recorded…
Cannabis laws around the world have changed considerably in recent years, but there is still no single global approach to the drug. A small number of countries have legalized cannabis for non-medical use, while others allow limited possession or home cultivation, operate medical-cannabis programs, tolerate certain forms of retail sales, or have reduced criminal penalties…
There is no single global drug problem. UNODC estimates that about 331 million people used drugs in 2024. Most of them used cannabis. Opioids, however, account for a much larger share of drug-related deaths. At the same time, the cocaine market continues to expand, while new synthetic opioids continue to emerge, sometimes in forms that…
Government collects and spends enormous amounts of public money. Much of that spending pays for essential services such as healthcare, education, infrastructure, public safety and social programs. But not every dollar is necessarily spent efficiently. Government waste generally refers to public resources being used inefficiently, unnecessarily or without achieving the intended value or result. Waste…
Employment Insurance is one of Canada’s largest social programs, providing temporary financial assistance to eligible workers who lose employment or experience other qualifying circumstances. But as the program handles millions of applications each year, the federal government continues to face the challenge of detecting fraud, recovering improper payments and protecting public funds. The latest federal…
Access to safe drinking water is something most Canadians expect as a basic part of everyday life. Yet in some First Nations communities on reserve, residents continue to face drinking water advisories that can last for months or even years. The situation has improved significantly since 2015, when the federal government committed to eliminating all…